Indian Railways which is one of the largest state-owned public sector undertakings is making serious efforts towards contributing to the betterment of the environment. Indian Railways has been taking many green energy initiatives. Indian Railways is moving towards the path of self-sustenance and environmental friendliness. And on this path, several projects have been initiated to make the railways 'green'.

Here are few measures that show Indian Railways is going ahead on the
path of 'green initiative':

In
Focus

Planting
five crore saplings before the onset of monsoon:

Railways has come
up with an ambitious project of planting 5 crore saplings all over the country
with help of the Environment Ministry. The saplings will be planted before the
onset of monsoon, so that they get adequate amount of water. The saplings will
be region specific and in varieties of trees
like neem, pilkhan, jamun, etc. The saplings will be planted on the land
owned by the Railways on both sides of
the tracks, while ensuring that the branches of the trees do not block the
tracks. Few NGOs and corresponding state governments will assist in this program.

Water recycling and rain
water harvesting by Railways:

After agriculture
and power sector, Railways is perhaps the third largest water consumer in the
country. To make the railway stations more self-sustainable, Railways will use
water released from sewage treatment plants and then recycle and purify it for
non-potable purposes like washing trains and platforms. It will also formulate
a policy for using water more
efficiently in its premises'. Water audits would be carried out to gauge annual
consumption. Railways is also looking towards rain water harvesting.

Solar panels to be used
for generating electricity:

Railway has
unveiled its plans to make solar energy the next big thing; it has geared up to make solar energy a major player in
its energy portfolio. As part of the initiative, solar panels would be
installed on rooftops of major stations initially. It has envisioned a plan to
source 1,000 MW of solar power over the next five years besides establishing 132 MW
capacity windmill plants in partnership with Reliance.

Paperless
ticketing for unreserved tickets:

Indian Railways
has decided to move to paperless ticketing for unreserved class as well. Unreserved passengers form a major
portion of the total passengers travelling through this public transportation system.
Paperless ticketing will enable ticketing facility for suburban rail users
using their smart-phones by just downloading an app. This app is currently at testing
stage and is functional only at few stations namely Secunderabad, Chennai,
Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.